etah.conf@pu.edu.

pk

Gender Representation: A semiotic Analysis of Pakistani Movie posters from

1990s and 2010s

1
NAUREEN MUMTAZ
ABSTRACT

Posters and films are two things that are related to each other. The elements of the film poster
follow the trend in its production and have a cultural pattern that reflects the social culture of the
time. The aim of this research is to look at female and male representation on Lollywood movie
posters from two different decades: the 1990s and the 2010s.Furthermore, the study discusses
that how portrayal of gender has changed over time in Pakistani/Lollywood movie posters. 24
movie posters are selected for analysis based on their popularity in Public, 12 each belonging to
both eras. This paper takes an interpretive approach and provides an in-depth analysis pertaining
to how semiotic methods work in understanding the symbolic value of the movie posters. This is
constituted on descriptive qualitative approach with visual evaluation on Goffman's theory of
gender analysis, in which the researcher’s key focus of the study is to interpret the meaning of
signs, symbols, signifier and signified. Moreover it also analyzes frame and background
components as expressions, clothing, overall appearance, makeup and colour tones etc. in
relation to how the representation of gender, particularly females, has changed in Lollywood
films. The movie posters suggest women be powerless and dependent on male superiority and
support for surviving whereas male population depicted in film posters elevates and enhances the
societal presupposition of men to be confident, controlling and demanding. However women are
less sexualized in present times and presented in different roles on the poster. The subliminal
designs, topography and colour tones utilized within the above-evaluated movie posters, it is
evident that there is a stark discriminatory representation between females and males.
Keywords: Semiotic Analysis, Goffman Theory, Gender Representation, Lollywood movie

posters, socio-cultural Interpretation of Gender

1
Senior Lecturer, Department of English Language and Literature, Lahore Garrison University, Lahore, Pakistan
Email: naureenmumtaz@lgu.edu.pk

The author is a PhD English Scholar, with a research interests in the field of discourse, sociolinguistics and World
Englishes.